An update on the Kinston Unified Development Ordinance

By Adam Short / Guest Columnist

Published: Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at 09:27 PM.

Once the UDO Advisory Committee has reviewed each article and approved the final revisions, this ordinance will be presented to the City Council for adoption. We expect these ordinances to be in place by early fall, as we progress toward finishing the initial review this spring.

We hope that you will participate in the UDO Update process at one of our regular meetings. We have a dedicated website for this project — please visit www.cityofkinstonudo.org to review proposed articles, get updates on our progress, review meeting minutes or see upcoming agenda. For questions on the UDO update process, city staff is available to answer any questions you may have. I can be reached at the methods listed below..

Adam Short, MPA, is the planning director for the City of Kinston. You can reach him at 252-939-3269 or by email at adam.short@ci.kinston.nc.us.

The Free Press guest columnist feature appears every other Wednesday in this space. Would you like to be considered as a guest columnist? Contact Managing Editor Bryan Hanks at 252-559-1074 or at Bryan.Hanks@Kinston.com

The City of Kinston made it a priority this fiscal year to update development ordinances in order to make a more business and developer friendly process, while simultaneously providing common sense regulations that will enhance the visual landscape of our community.

The Unified Development Ordinance, or UDO, is a comprehensive document that outlays the development framework and requirements within the zoning jurisdiction of the City of Kinston. For those who may not know, this document establishes zoning districts for particular developments, establishes requirements that determine how far structures can be situated from property lines, addresses what types of uses are allowed in what parts of town, and much more.

Essentially, these are the rules of the game for all development in the City.

Much of the ordinance that is in place now is confusing to the average reader, which can make the development process cumbersome to prospective developers and a headache for individual property owners trying to make sense of the ordinances. In order to help address this, the City Council made it a priority to update this ordinance through a comprehensive overhaul. We are presently in the midst of this update.

The City Council established a UDO Advisory Committee comprised of community stakeholders such as property developers, real estate agents, surveyors, architects, civic leaders, and members of the Planning Board and City Council. The committee meets regularly on the third Tuesday of each month — the next meeting will be on Tuesday at City Hall and all are welcome to attend.

This committee is charged with ensuring this update goes smoothly and the best interests of the community are central to the process.

The UDO Advisory Committee has been meeting on a monthly basis since November. At each meeting, we review proposed and overhauled ordinances that will guide the development of our community. Thus far, we have covered the following articles of the ordinance:

Article 1 — Purpose and Applicability: This section establishes the framework and statutory authority for enforcement

Article 2 — General Regulations: This section sets the foundation for interpretation of rules and delegates the authority to the UDO Administrator to enforce the ordinance

Article 3 — Administrative/Legislative Authority: This section outlays the specific powers and duties of the administrator, planning board, Board of Adjustment and City Council as it applies to the development process

Article 6 — Zoning Districts: This section generally describes each zoning district and gives a brief indication of the development types that can be expected in that area. This section also includes the permitted use table, which details many uses and their appropriate zoning districts in town

The UDO Advisory Committee will review Article 4 (Legislative/Quasi-judicial Procedures) and Article 5 (Development Review process) at its next meeting. These articles outline the specific requirements for a development site plan, minor and major subdivision, and review the approval process for conditional use permits, rezonings, and appeals.

Other upcoming, noteworthy Articles will include: Parking Requirements, Subdivision Regulation, Flood Plain Development and Supplementary Use Regulations. Once these are finished, the bulk of this update will be complete.

Although much of what has been covered in the update process to date has been focused on getting the ordinance up to modern standards and making it consistent with current N.C. General Statutes, there are some items that might be of particular interest to the general public and development community.

First, we have streamlined the landscaping requirements for all new developments — clarifying what is required and under what circumstances.

Second, we are working to establish minimal design standards for commercial buildings; there was a strong push to establish some minimal standards for design by several groups including the Chamber of Commerce, the Kinston Appearance Commission, individual developers, and citizens.

Finally, we have attempted to remove special approvals where most appropriate, allowing staff to approve developments more often — upon submission and approval of a detailed site plan — thus requiring fewer time consuming approvals from various City boards.

Once the UDO Advisory Committee has reviewed each article and approved the final revisions, this ordinance will be presented to the City Council for adoption. We expect these ordinances to be in place by early fall, as we progress toward finishing the initial review this spring.

We hope that you will participate in the UDO Update process at one of our regular meetings. We have a dedicated website for this project — please visit www.cityofkinstonudo.org to review proposed articles, get updates on our progress, review meeting minutes or see upcoming agenda. For questions on the UDO update process, city staff is available to answer any questions you may have. I can be reached at the methods listed below..

Adam Short, MPA, is the planning director for the City of Kinston. You can reach him at 252-939-3269 or by email at adam.short@ci.kinston.nc.us.

The Free Press guest columnist feature appears every other Wednesday in this space. Would you like to be considered as a guest columnist? Contact Managing Editor Bryan Hanks at 252-559-1074 or at Bryan.Hanks@Kinston.com